Pippins Drop Fourth Straight on Another Walk-Off
June 21, 2017 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Leading 6-2 heading into the 8th inning, the Yakima Valley Pippins seemed well on their way to stopping their three-game losing streak and were poised to take the first game of their series with the Walla Walla Sweets. Unfortunately, nothing has come easy for the Pippins over the past four games, and Tuesday night proved to be no exception. Soon after the Pippins took their 6-2 lead, the Sweets rallied for five unanswered runs, and hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning to stun the Pippins 7-6 at Borleske Stadium, as the Pippins dropped their fourth straight game.
The Sweets (8-6) scored in the bottom of the 1st inning off of Pippins' starter, John Fuqua (Virginia Military Institute) to take an early 1-0 lead but the Pippins (6-10) quickly responded in the top half of the 2nd, plating two runs on via a wild pitch which scored Chase Wells (Seattle U) and an RBI single from Jonny DeLuca (Oregon) to score Connor White (Columbia Basin). The score remained 2-1 in favor of the Pippins until the top of the 6th, when Dustin Yates (Washington State), who was pinch hitting, came through with an RBI single to score Lucas Denney (Seattle U) and stretch the lead to 3-1. After the Sweets responded with a run of their own in the bottom part of the frame, the Pippins came through with their biggest inning of the night.
The top of the 7th began with DeLuca singling for the third time in the game, followed by a Tora Otsuka (San Diego) walk and a Dillon Plew (Washington State) sacrifice bunt to give the Pippins runners on second and third base with one out. After DeLuca scored on a wild pitch, Bradlee Beesley (Cal Poly) was the batter with a runner on third and just one out. Beeslee proceeded to crush a two-run home run over the left field fence to give the Pippins a three run frame and a 6-2 lead. The lead did not remain that way for long, however, as the Sweets soon answered with a three run bottom of the 8th inning to make it a one run game headed to the 9th.
After the Pippins were retired in the top of the 9th, the Sweets rallied off of White, who came on for the save for the Pippins. After loading the bases with no one out, White walked in a run to tie the game at 6. A double play momentarily gave the Pippins hope for extra innings, but with two outs and a runner on third, Jake Suddleson (Harvard) laced a ground ball up the middle to score the winning run as the Sweets won the game in walk-off fashion, 7-6.
Game Notes: With the loss, the Pippins have matched their longest losing streak in their franchise history of four games for the second time. The team also lost four consecutive games from July 15 to 19 in their inaugural season of 2014. The Pippins have also now lost via a walk-off hit in two of the past four games, falling on a walk-off home run in the series opener against Kelowna on Saturday.
White took his first loss of the season to fall to 0-1 and also allowed his first two earned runs of the season. He entered the contest tied for the WCL lead with three saves. Justin Dolezal (Western Oregon), pitched a scoreless 9th for Walla Walla and earned his first win of the season, improving to 1-0. Fuqua pitching 6 2/3 strong innings for the Pippins, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out seven while not garnering a decision. Fuqua retired ten consecutive batters at one point in the game, from the final out of the 2nd inning all the way until the end of the 5th.
With the loss, the Pippins stay four games back of the Corvallis Knights in the WCL South Division Standings. With their win, the Sweets are still just one game back of first place in the WCL North, as they continue to keep pace with the Bellingham Bells and Kelowna Falcons.
What's Next: The second and final game of the series is Wednesday night. The Pippins will hope that right-hander, Kade Woods (Spokane Falls), who will be making his fourth start, can silence the Sweets and put an end to their four-game slide. Woods will face off against the Sweets' left-hander, Dylan Riddle (UC Irvine), with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. from Borleske Stadium.
game, from the final out of the 2nd inning all the way until the end of the 5th.
With the loss, the Pippins stay four games back of the Corvallis Knights in the WCL South Division Standings. With their win, the Sweets are still just one game back of first place in the WCL North, as they continue to keep pace with the Bellingham Bells and Kelowna Falcons.
What's Next: The second and final game of the series is Wednesday night. The Pippins will hope that right-hander, Kade Woods (Spokane Falls), who will be making his fourth start, can silence the Sweets and put an end to their four-game slide. Woods will face off against the Sweets' left-hander, Dylan Riddle (UC Irvine), with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. from Borleske Stadium.
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West Coast League Stories from June 21, 2017
- Pippins Drop Fourth Straight on Another Walk-Off - Yakima Valley Pippins
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